Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. on Friday formally opened its $20 million production-technology center in Stratford centered around building the Marine Corps' next-generation successor to the Super Stallion helicopter.

The Precision Components Technology Center will produce major components of the new CH-53K, such as rotating and stationary swashplates, main and tail rotor hubs, and main rotor sleeves.

Altogether, Sikorsky's parent, United Technologies Corp. in Hartford, has committed $130 million to the CH-53K program.

Sikorsky won a $3 billion contract from the Marines in 2006 for more than 200 copies of the next-generation aircraft that, while about the same size as the Super Stallion, can carry heavier payloads yet is cheaper to operate and maintain.